My Boyfriend and I were talking the other day. I used to write here in OS about..oh stuff...and stopped for a few months 'cause of work, mainly.But every chance I get I take a peek at the blogs and posts here. So there we were talking about OS and I was telling him that almost everyday someone would post about being unemployed, about cutting back and about being positive in spite of the hardships.

Really? He said. Filipinos are whining about being unemployed since the Spaniards were still here. He was right.

For many many years, our unemployment rate is always at the range of the unacceptable. Figures, since we're a third world country. So how de we cope?

Filipinos are very religious. I am not promoting religion, just stating a fact. The majority of us believe that God has willed us this life because it has a purpose that we cannot comprehend. We were put in this situation because God willed it and we can't do anything about it. Sounds sad but it's actually letting ourselves believe that we are not at fault and a brighter future is ahead of us. Filipinos rarely have therapists. They're too expensive anyway. God is like the boyfriend who wanted to break up with you and says " Babe, it's not you, it's me".

Second, I guess we are just so damn used to being poor we don't notice that we're poor. I have relatives in California and whenever they come they always complain of how small out place is. They showed us pictures of their house. It's like a mansion to us but they insisted that the entire block have houses exactly like theirs. We gasp. Their size of their lawn is the size of our house. But we don't mind. We're not used to big spaces. Feels kinda creepy.

Third, Filipinos love comedy. Most even like the slap stick/toilet kind of humor. I don't personally like it though. But we LOVE to laugh. Laugh about..anything. And sometimes even at anyone. We can think of something funny about a dog, about a situation otherwise viewed as normal. When we're stressed, we rarely frown or get depressed. We laugh. Most of our comedians here have personal issues so heavy yet their work requires them to laugh and be laughed at.

And when we don't have any money, resources, we just make do with what we have. We're living in a third world country laden with so many problems and yet we laugh at it and with it. Many people go hungry and yet at the end of the day they find something to eat. A miracle? A work of God? Makes one think...  this ain't bad at all.